A Night At JP

I faced a difficult situation in Tanglin Halt today. Two kids were arguing with regards to who should sit beside this other boy during study time. I had no choice but to take the two kids to another room to do their homework and spelling revision, so that things could carry on as usual. This has been the first time in many years that I've seen two boys at such a young age arguing with so much emotions (pre-dominantly anger). The two boys were on better terms at the end of the day, much to my relief. Well, I hope that they could co-exist better in the future, otherwise it would be detrimental to their relationship with one another as well as the general harmony of the kids in the centre.

After work, I began looking around the neighbourhood for a shop to make some passport size pictures. Realising that I might not have enough money, I decided to draw out some money at the atm located at the train station. It was then when I saw this automated passport picture taking machine at the side of the walkway. I decided to try it for the first time since it seems kinda fun. Guess what, i tried putting my notes into the machine, but it just wouldn't accept it. I mean C'MON, if the machine couldn't accept the newer notes, then get it fixed so that IT DOES!! I felt really dumb after that, like I've wasted 5 minutes of my life trying to use the darn machine. I ended up taking my pictures at a kodak shop nearby.

Went to meet Landy, Nat and Aloysious at Jurong Point for dinner. It was pretty fun hanging out with them, simply because they are really funny and interesting people to hang out with, saying the most random of stuff that will tickle you silly. While we were at fair-price xtra, Nat tried on some pink clothing, and my goodness it was TOTALLY HILARIOUS!! I still can't get that image out of my mind,and I'm guessing it will probably haunt me in my dreams tonight, so I'm guessing there will be a lot of "sleep-laughing" later in the night :o) Regardless of the situation, kudos to Nat for being that gung-ho in the dare factor department.

Gotta sleep soon. still wondering whether I should watch the football match later, since I still have much to do tomorrow morning.

And I loved the movie Amelie!!!! I wondered how I missed out on such a nice movie all this years, and I totally agree with Ashley when she told me to watch the complete, unedited version. Totally funny and nice :o)

Cousins :)

Starting Work Soon.

I'll be heading to work soon, in just a few hours. I wonder how the experience will be, and how the day is gonna be like. It's probably likely that the first few days or so will be time given for me to get used to the work environment, and I hope I don't mess things up.

My knee is still slightly hurting from yesterday's football game. It seems like age is beginning, though it sounds weird since I am still relatively young. I guess this means I need to take more care of myself and not be involved in too many strenous activities at one go from now on.

A Day In Changi

Went to the Water Venture centre at Changi in the morning to register the AQ boys for their Kayaking Star 1 course. It was a really "out of the way" place to get to, and it really helped that I had my Ipod so that I could blast music into my ears, which really made the trip seemed a lot faster and bearable. When I got there, I realised that the place was pretty nice, wind was good and the scenary was not too bad as well. I settled the payment for Jian Ye and Aaron, so that leaves with only Joash to sign up for the course. However, the course is from 14-15 March, and I remembered that the sec 3s have some camp going on, so that may be a slight bit of complication for Joash to take the Kayaking course.

Bryan came over to the Changi Water Venture centre to meet me in the afternoon, after I was done with the registration and payment for the course. We initially wanted to meet up so that we could go for a run at the park, but we didn't in the end, partly because my legs really felt sore. We ended eating at the food court at Changi Village, and after that we headed down to the airport to chill a bit. We stayed at the airport for a good 3 hours or so, before we headed off back home.

When, I got home, I began surfing on Youtube, and my goodness they have a healthy selection of movie/drama parodies, especially on Lost. I think I was viewing these videos for a while, and I can't remember how it happen, but somehow I ended up in the Amoeba Records website.

Look at those Selections!! Amoeba Records sells tons and tons of Indie albums as well as the latest albums and used albums of the past. Just think of all the great bargains you can get, and you'll be satisfied. Then think of all the good Indie albums you can possibly ever imagine, and they'll have it! Last but not least, they have a good collection of classic Vinyls if you wanna go retro! They are located in the States though..

I can't get enough of this, I wanna go there now!!!! :o)

Botanical Gardens

Cycled to the Botanical Gardens earlier in the morning. I wanted to go to a Garden enviroment to do some reading of books and other stuff, hence the destination. The route that I took to get there was filled with many crazy upslope roads that by the time I actually got the Gardens, my thigh muscles were aching severely.

I walked around the Gardens for a while before I managed to find a bench with a good shade. It was facing the Symphony Lake I think. Took my book and some Tanglin Halt camp materials that I got from my sister a few days ago, and just sat there and started reading and examining them. After I was done with the both of them, I continued walking around the Garden. I never knew that the Garden was that big; I always thought that it just the size of any other typical park in Singapore, but I was dead wrong.

Anyway, as I was about to leave the Botanical Gardens, I saw a sign describing the "Dos and Don'ts" of the Garden, and to my surprise saw the part which says "no bikes, no cycling aorund the Gardens"!! No wonder there were a few people who looked slightly puzzled when I brought my bike into the Gardens.

Now, as I was cycling I was experiencing unusual bumps on my bike, even when I was cycling on the smooth paths. I stopped to examine, and to my horror I realised that back tire of the bicycle had deflated to the point whereby the metal rim was touching the ground. Talk about the worse thing to happen to a person who was cycling, especially when you were cycling in a area no where near your house! The result? I ended up walking a huge distance ( from Clementi to Pandan) back home while guiding my bike with my hands. I'm gonna change my back tire, probably in the nex t few days.

Tokyo Police Club!! Tokyo Police Club is a Canadian indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario. They are another great band to listen to, so for those who had not heard of them, go check them out already!! :o)

A One Week Break Before Work Begins

Was doing laminating of 'O' levels certs at SEAB from Monday to Thursday last week. It was a pretty mundane experience, and the only thing we did from 8 to 5 was to simply put the cert into the laminating sheet and laminate it. I have never done so much laminating in my life before, and I'm pretty sure that my laminating skills are way better than before, not that it matters anyway. The job was supposed to last for a duration of a week or two, so you can kinda guess the ruthless efficiency of the laminating 'team' since it only lasted 4 days in actual.

After the last day of my temporary job at SEAB on thursday, I went down to Tanglin Halt to fill in my job application form and have the interview with the supervisor of the childcare centre. Even though I have been helping out in Tanglin Halt for a couple of years now, I had no idea what to expect since it was a new supervisor at the helm, and I've never seen her neither know what kind of a person she was. The only clue I had prior to meeting her on thursday was from Lingna, who told me the supervisor sounded friendly on the phone. In any case, I went down, and while I was speaking to this lady ( whom I thought was another helper in the centre) regarding some of the details of the application form since there were certain things i didn't really understand, and so we talked for a good few minutes or so. After I passed the form to the lady, she told me to wait a while, and I thought that meant waiting for Mrs Tiong, the new supervisor to come and give the interview for the job. Imagine my surprise when the same lady came back with some other forms, and a file, sat down on the chair beside and started the interview!! My goodness, the lady I was talking to all this while was Mrs Tiong, and I didn't even know about it!! Well, the interview went well, and I'll be starting work on 23 Feb, which is a week from now! Woohoo, I've gotten the job that I have been wanting to do since late last year, so praise God for granting this opportunity to do so!!

I have been facing some difficulties in BB recently. The boys who were selected to participate in Adventure Quest were required to have Kayaking star ibe certification in order to qualify for the competition, so I passed the application forms to the boys so they could fill them up and I could then subsequently enroll them for the kayaking course. This happened 2 weeks ago, and I gave them a weeks deadline to complete the form as there were only limited available slots for the kayak course and up till now, I've only received one form out of the three boys who were supposed to go for the course. I hope that I'll be able to get the rest of the forms during the parade on wednesday, so that I'll be able to enroll them into the course while there are still available slots.

Went out with some of my jc friends Eddy, Henry and Jing Kai last night. It has been so long we last met together for a meal or a chilling session, and it was really refreshing to see them again. All the best to Henry, Jingkai and Dylan (whom I thought was supposed to join us as well) who flew off to Hong Kong earlier in the morning, especially when I heard of your plans to go there and get "lost" in the country so as to immense yourselves into the culture with no backup plans or any plans for anything at all. Actually that only applies to Henry since he was the one who wanted to do that, and Jing Kai and Dylan would just have to go through with since they will be there anyway. All the best again, and hope you guys enjoy yourselves over there!

This week will be a free week, since I'm not working. I'll probably take this opportunity to enjoy myself thoroughly before I start work again next week. Perhaps I should call some of my friends out to chill or have a meal or something haha.

What I'll be doing for the most of next week.

Yup, it is laminating stuff. Recently found this job that lasts for about 1.5 weeks, starting from next Monday. Sounds pretty temporary right? It's probably the best kind of job that I can have while waiting for the par time job opportunity in Tanglin Halt to come ringing on my door. The job in Tanglin halt, to me would be the most ideal as I would also have the opportunity to take care of the children in the centre as well as know them better prior to the camp. Until then though, I guess it's still short-term jobs for me..

Once again, it'll be BB Adventure Quest training for the boys tomorrow. Time does seem to pass real fast, and I'm left to wonder whether the training will do the boys any good when the real thing comes. Perhaps I'll try something different for the training tomorrow, something that will really challenge the boys. Hope they won't be freaked out if I do though haha..

The future is always filled with much uncertainty. Yet when I looked towards you, somehow I know that things will turn out just right again. I don't know how you do it, but you always seem to have your mysterious ways of making everything well in the end. That's why I trust you, my God and Father in Heaven, for You are always Faithful even when things appear bleak and stormy.

Looking for a job.

I have been looking for a part-time job in the past few days. I've been checking on the papers for part-time work and in the midst of doing so, I realised that the Recruit section has shrunk by a whole lot. It probably is due to the recession situation, and I'm wondering exactly when things would pick up again in that aspect.

I received an email from Lingna today, and realised that the best date (so far) for the Tanglin Halt camp is from 17 to 19 June, which happens to be just 2 days after the cell retreat. Things are kinda looking awfully tight here, and I'm thinking of ways to ensure that my involvement in the retreat will not affect my commitment/responsibility to the Tanglin Halt camp. I'll looking through the stuff Lingna sent to me later in the night, and will begin to come up with the" key responsibilities" of the "key people". Sounds pretty high level, and I hope to do it well, with the help and guidance from God :o)

Anyone who is interested in helping out in the Tanglin Halt Camp in June, Please feel free to let me know!! You'll be much appreciated!!